The Seychelles (Day 1 and 2)
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It only seems natural that you would have to go through hell to get to heaven. Leaving Thailand was a miserable experience. I kept being told that I needed to have $4400 dollars if I wanted to stay in the Seychelles for 44 days to which I politely (if it is even possible to be polite when people are being that outrageous) exclaimed NO! Eventually I was told I'd only need $500 and then I had to scramble around trying to get that and nearly failed... needless to say, I am glad to be out of Thailand. Then I almost missed my connection to Mahe...
But the important thing is I made it and my god is it beautiful. If ever there were a place to call paradise, I'm sure this is it. I arrived at the frightening hour of 6 am when the sun had just started to peak up over the ocean and color the island a deep shade of burgundy. I took a taxi to my hotel in Beau Vallon in absolute Awe. As the car marched upwards through windy roads passed Victoria (the capital) I could see for miles and miles and miles. The skyline was dotted with those small puffy clouds that you have a good time lying on your back watching drift on by. By the time I got to my hotel it was 7:00.
I dropped my bag and went to walk the beach. Absolutely gorgeous. The sand simply melts between your toes and as you watch mountain and ocean collide your breath gets swept away. Not only that but there are huge rock cliffs and boulders which beg to be climbed. From the beach you can see what would be some glorious crack climbing, but I'll have to settle for bouldering on the beach. Now, I'm glad I hauled my rock shoes halfway round the world -- I was a little disappointed to learn I couldn't climb in Chiang Mai but this seems better than anything I could ask for.
As I walked down the beach and weaved my way in and out of the huge granitic boulders I was caught off guard by a coconut crab. Apparently they are large land dwelling crabs who despite their size are very skiddish. I think it scared me more than I scared it.. (talk about being a wuss)
I love the ocean and forgot how much of a pull it has on me. I think the simple sound of hearing waves breaking lifted some sort of immeasurable weight off of me. To be that far from the ocean for so long and locked up within a concrete prison no less was a bit hard. Despite the fact that Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai were beautiful, cities, no matter where they are located, really aren't for me.
After being blown away by the incredible sights I returned to my hotel room and took a quick nap. I woke up and then had the best breakfast in the world: fried eggs and toast with butter. I had forgotten how marvelous something like bread and butter is. The foods (let alone the combination) does not exist in Thailand. Any bread there is some variation of sweet bread and has way too much sugar to ever be truly delicious.
I then walked down to a local dive shop where I made friends with a girl named Allie. We talked for awhile and then agreed that I'd come back around noon so I headed back to my hotel to grab my snorkel and mask and headed out into the water: incredible. I don't know else how to describe it.
The fish are simply everywhere. The ocean is exploding with them. The colors that catch your eye are simply stunning. Bright blues, reds, and yellows. I wandered into some deeper water and found huge angel fish and butterfly fish...it made me remember the time I had a salt water aquarium... This was infinitely cooler.
That afternoon I saw two dolphins as we got ready to dive the twin barges wreck. It was spectacular even though visibility was "poor" (AKA great by New England standards...) I had fun with my camera and took some great pictures, but mostly I got used to using my camera underwater... it's just a little different then on land :)
When we were done with our dive and everyone was back and settled on the boat we watched this small yellow boat careen out of control and do a couple of rolls across the water. It was like something out of one of those "world's wildest boat crashes" video. The boat, which was about 8 feet long and bright yellow had a 115 engine on it and 3 people aboard. Everyone was absolutely fine which actually makes the memory sort of cool. In fact the Seychellois (a person or multiple people who is/are from the Seychelles) weren't concerned with being ok, they were concerned with how cool they looked...
This girl Jessica then went on to tell a story to me about how one time the "city" bank had a bomb threat and rather than clear the area, everyone came down to the bank to see if it would blow up or not. Of course, this was just a hoax...
That night, after the dive, I went back down to the beach and watched a crazy game of soccer on the best field I have ever been to. Sure the goals were made of sticks, but the view was great and the company was mighty fine. The sun was setting throughout the game and the boys playing were barefoot and had the most incredible first touches on the ball... I was really impressed actually.
I had dinner at a local pizza place by myself which was nice and then literally went to my room and passed out.
Today, I woke up early and did two dives. I went back to the twin barges on the first dive. It was cool seeing how different a place can be when (1) time passes (2) visibility is excellent. I had continued studying the fish I needed to learn the previous night so it was nice seeing some of the species I could correctly identify.
Our second dive was at a place called "Aquarium" which has about 3 different reefs. So far this was my favorite -- despite the fact that I nearly shot up out of the water because I lost a weight belt (a little scary!) but I was able to stay down... The best part of the dive was the sea turtle we saw. It was a female hawksbill turtle and was absolutely gorgeous. It was so neat watching it munch on coral.
After my dives, I pretty much came here to the internet cafe because I wanted to check in with my family / post on my blog. Tonight I am going out to dinner with the friends I made from the dive shop. All-in-all, I would say that the Seychelles is the most amazing place ever and if you can rock climb, you should totally meet me out here...It would be incredible.
TTFN
- Sarah
But the important thing is I made it and my god is it beautiful. If ever there were a place to call paradise, I'm sure this is it. I arrived at the frightening hour of 6 am when the sun had just started to peak up over the ocean and color the island a deep shade of burgundy. I took a taxi to my hotel in Beau Vallon in absolute Awe. As the car marched upwards through windy roads passed Victoria (the capital) I could see for miles and miles and miles. The skyline was dotted with those small puffy clouds that you have a good time lying on your back watching drift on by. By the time I got to my hotel it was 7:00.
I dropped my bag and went to walk the beach. Absolutely gorgeous. The sand simply melts between your toes and as you watch mountain and ocean collide your breath gets swept away. Not only that but there are huge rock cliffs and boulders which beg to be climbed. From the beach you can see what would be some glorious crack climbing, but I'll have to settle for bouldering on the beach. Now, I'm glad I hauled my rock shoes halfway round the world -- I was a little disappointed to learn I couldn't climb in Chiang Mai but this seems better than anything I could ask for.
As I walked down the beach and weaved my way in and out of the huge granitic boulders I was caught off guard by a coconut crab. Apparently they are large land dwelling crabs who despite their size are very skiddish. I think it scared me more than I scared it.. (talk about being a wuss)
I love the ocean and forgot how much of a pull it has on me. I think the simple sound of hearing waves breaking lifted some sort of immeasurable weight off of me. To be that far from the ocean for so long and locked up within a concrete prison no less was a bit hard. Despite the fact that Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai were beautiful, cities, no matter where they are located, really aren't for me.
After being blown away by the incredible sights I returned to my hotel room and took a quick nap. I woke up and then had the best breakfast in the world: fried eggs and toast with butter. I had forgotten how marvelous something like bread and butter is. The foods (let alone the combination) does not exist in Thailand. Any bread there is some variation of sweet bread and has way too much sugar to ever be truly delicious.
I then walked down to a local dive shop where I made friends with a girl named Allie. We talked for awhile and then agreed that I'd come back around noon so I headed back to my hotel to grab my snorkel and mask and headed out into the water: incredible. I don't know else how to describe it.
The fish are simply everywhere. The ocean is exploding with them. The colors that catch your eye are simply stunning. Bright blues, reds, and yellows. I wandered into some deeper water and found huge angel fish and butterfly fish...it made me remember the time I had a salt water aquarium... This was infinitely cooler.
That afternoon I saw two dolphins as we got ready to dive the twin barges wreck. It was spectacular even though visibility was "poor" (AKA great by New England standards...) I had fun with my camera and took some great pictures, but mostly I got used to using my camera underwater... it's just a little different then on land :)
When we were done with our dive and everyone was back and settled on the boat we watched this small yellow boat careen out of control and do a couple of rolls across the water. It was like something out of one of those "world's wildest boat crashes" video. The boat, which was about 8 feet long and bright yellow had a 115 engine on it and 3 people aboard. Everyone was absolutely fine which actually makes the memory sort of cool. In fact the Seychellois (a person or multiple people who is/are from the Seychelles) weren't concerned with being ok, they were concerned with how cool they looked...
This girl Jessica then went on to tell a story to me about how one time the "city" bank had a bomb threat and rather than clear the area, everyone came down to the bank to see if it would blow up or not. Of course, this was just a hoax...
That night, after the dive, I went back down to the beach and watched a crazy game of soccer on the best field I have ever been to. Sure the goals were made of sticks, but the view was great and the company was mighty fine. The sun was setting throughout the game and the boys playing were barefoot and had the most incredible first touches on the ball... I was really impressed actually.
I had dinner at a local pizza place by myself which was nice and then literally went to my room and passed out.
Today, I woke up early and did two dives. I went back to the twin barges on the first dive. It was cool seeing how different a place can be when (1) time passes (2) visibility is excellent. I had continued studying the fish I needed to learn the previous night so it was nice seeing some of the species I could correctly identify.
Our second dive was at a place called "Aquarium" which has about 3 different reefs. So far this was my favorite -- despite the fact that I nearly shot up out of the water because I lost a weight belt (a little scary!) but I was able to stay down... The best part of the dive was the sea turtle we saw. It was a female hawksbill turtle and was absolutely gorgeous. It was so neat watching it munch on coral.
After my dives, I pretty much came here to the internet cafe because I wanted to check in with my family / post on my blog. Tonight I am going out to dinner with the friends I made from the dive shop. All-in-all, I would say that the Seychelles is the most amazing place ever and if you can rock climb, you should totally meet me out here...It would be incredible.
TTFN
- Sarah
2 comments:
Hi Sarah,
Sounds like you have found paradise. Can hardly wait to see some pictures. Still raining here....ugh...love,MOM...miss you tons!
Can I come to the Seychelles if I learn how to climb? Please *wink*
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